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UMass Lowell 2025-2026: Youth will be served

UMLFan said:
I wouldn't call her "new" anymore, as this is the third season she's been here.

On top of that, didn't Norm just sign an extension?
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He's actually a lame duck. His current contract expires at the end of this season. Three options, all dependent on how the year goes IMO:

1. Re-sign him and hope this transition period is over and he knows how to coach in the new NIL, rev share, transfer portal era.
2. He retires/parts ways/moves on, etc and Boschetto is automatically promoted to head coach, which would confirm that was the plan all along.
3. Coutts ends the Bazin/Bazin affiliate era entirely and opens a national search.

If we look back in March and those polls were correct, my vote is for option 3. Lot of talented assistants in D1 hungry for an opportunity. And if McMahon is correct and Lowell is around the same level as Maine and Northeastern with financial resources, then a smart, motivated guy could absolutely restore this program. Also worth mentioning: hockey was one of the sports Coutts worked intimately with at Denver. As deputy director, she was the sport administrator for hockey. So yes, she knows what it takes to build a successful program.
 
Lowell2001 said:
He's actually a lame duck. His current contract expires at the end of this season. Three options, all dependent on how the year goes IMO:

1. Re-sign him and hope this transition period is over and he knows how to coach in the new NIL, rev share, transfer portal era.
2. He retires/parts ways/moves on, etc and Boschetto is automatically promoted to head coach, which would confirm that was the plan all along.
3. Coutts ends the Bazin/Bazin affiliate era entirely and opens a national search.

If we look back in March and those polls were correct, my vote is for option 3. Lot of talented assistants in D1 hungry for an opportunity. And if McMahon is correct and Lowell is around the same level as Maine and Northeastern with financial resources, then a smart, motivated guy could absolutely restore this program. Also worth mentioning: hockey was one of the sports Coutts worked intimately with at Denver. As deputy director, she was the sport administrator for hockey. So yes, she knows what it takes to build a successful program.
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No, he's not. He signed a 5-year extension.
 
Lowell2001 said:
I stand corrected then. Is this public info?
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I thought I remembered Scott mentioning that the extension was about to be signed. But strangely, no, it's not public ... just did a search on google which found a Sun article (December 2021) showing Bazin said he was extended through this past season.
 
UMLFan said:
I thought I remembered Scott mentioning that the extension was about to be signed. But strangely, no, it's not public ... just did a search on google which found a Sun article (December 2021) showing Bazin said he was extended through this past season.
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Yeah, on the speculative coaching changes thread, when someone else said "Norm Bazin is retiring", Scott mentioned that this was false and that he would be signing the extension soon. Haven't heard anything regarding it since, until now
 
Five years seems like a lot given the bad results in recent seasons, but despite that, the arena is generally full each night. That’s the only leverage I can think of that Norm has.
 
Mike McMahon has Lowell 42nd in his preseason power rankings. The biggest reason, same as last year, and same as many of us have been saying for a couple of years ... utter lack of offense.
 
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Pretty fun to see this video (on FB) that the school posted, asking the players what they were most looking forward to. I did find the Captain's response of "Senior Night" a bit strange.
 
Middle Street said:
Five years seems like a lot given the bad results in recent seasons, but despite that, the arena is generally full each night. That’s the only leverage I can think of that Norm has. The attendance all in due time watch the attendance with them ECAC teams it'll be pretty low and if you continuously stink out the joint, they will stay home.
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New England Hockey Journal also predicts us last, same note as Mike McMahon.
The River Hawks won just 13 games last season and graduated their best player and leading scorer. UMass Lowell will struggle to score, and Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.) will need to rediscover his scoring touch as the team looks for players to step up offensively. Given their size and experience, a strong defense must be their backbone again.
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